Stories from Sunday, June 18, 2006

"One hundred, do I hear one-twenty-five now, come on, now where do I see one-twenty-five, a pittance to pay for this one-of-a-kind item" went the pitch from the silver-tongued auctioneer. The crowd, hesitant to respond, was prodded forward. "Remember, it's only money, people," said Charles Hutson, who sometimes works as a circuit court clerk. ...

Cape Girardeau County residents Monday morning get their first chance to give their opinion on a proposal to increase sales taxes to pay for an accelerated county road paving program. The Cape Girardeau County Commission didn't hold a public hearing before it decided last month to put a half-cent sales tax before voters on Aug. 8. Known on the ballot as Proposition 1, the permanent tax increase would, if approved, raise about $5.9 million the first year...

The Cape Girardeau Storyfest committee plans to use Cape Girardeau's first Chautauqua event in decades to generate interest in created local oral histories. During the week of Chautauqua, the committee will team with KRCU public radio to tape the oral histories of about 30 local residents. Tapings will go on from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday at the Osage Community Centre using people selected by the committee...

When Samuel Clemens piloted a steamboat on the Mississippi River, he relied on a keen eye, an ingrained knowledge of river currents and a deckhand with a rope, knotted at 6-foot intervals, to gauge the channel. When two knots disappeared beneath the water, Clemens heard the deckhand call out "Mark Twain," which meant deep water and safe running...

The Southeast Missouri State sprinter likely will be back for his senior season rather than turning professional. It's truly a shame that an injury kept Miles Smith from competing in the 400-meter finals at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships and will also prevent him from participating in major meets the rest of the summer...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents foiled heightened security in Baghdad and killed more than two dozen people Saturday after an al-Qaida threat to avenge the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, dealing a blow to the Iraqi government's pledge to bring peace to the capital...

By SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE In a cramped, dimly lit room, three women stare at a bank of blinking video monitors. Each of the six screens shows, from a slightly different angle, a black-and-white ball of fluff -- Tai Shan, the giant panda cub born last summer at Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C...

The wimpy showerhead is all wet. Washed up, if you will. In a never-ending pursuit to transform home showers from a douse-and-done situation into "just-give-me-a-few-more-minutes" full-water luxury, homeowners are installing big and brassy shower fixtures. Manufacturers, too, have pinned their hopes on reinvention of the staid showerhead...

JOPLIN, Mo. -- A technical school placement assistant who helped students get jobs and schedule interviews has been charged with sexually assaulting one student and could lose his job after others reported they were the targets of unwanted sexual advances...

TOKYO -- The United States and Japan urged North Korea not to proceed with reported plans to test-fire a long-range missile that could reach the U.S. mainland, saying Saturday that a launch would be dangerous and provocative. But North Korean officials later denied such preparations, the Kyodo News agency reported, citing a South Korean official it did not identify...

HONOLULU -- For 60 years, Nancy Kenney wondered what happened to her father. The submarine that William T. Mabin was in disappeared while he and his crewmates were on a mission to attack a Japanese convoy in the last months of World War II. Now, the Navy says a wreck found at the bottom of the Gulf of Thailand appears to be the sub, the USS Lagarto...

LITTLETON, Colo. -- On any other day, with any other crowd, a thunderstorm might have ruined the moment. For the families of the 13 people slain at Columbine High School seven years ago, the dark sky almost seemed a fitting backdrop for the groundbreaking ceremony Friday for the long-delayed memorial to the victims...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA managers on Saturday picked July 1 to launch the first space shuttle in almost a year, despite recommendations against a mission by the space agency's chief engineer and safety offices. The decision to launch Discovery on a trip to the international space station was made after two days of meetings by NASA's top managers and engineers at the Kennedy Space Center...

Cape Girardeau...

FLORENCE, Ky. -- Roy and Anna Williams are planning a trip across the country in a vehicle that looks like it made a trip through time. The northern Kentucky couple is using a 1929 yellow Model A Ford to make a 4,400-journey along Route 66. "It's all about sightseeing and adventure," Roy Williams, 63, told The Kentucky Enquirer. "It's something we've been wanting to do for a couple years."...

BILLINGS, Mont. -- Air quality in four of six categories is worsening at Yellowstone National Park, a new study by the National Park Service shows. The study compiled air-quality trends dating back to 1995 at national parks across the country. One pollutant on the rise in Yellowstone is ground-level ozone, which can cause respiratory problems and threaten plant health. But the levels aren't high enough to pose a risk and don't exceed any national standards, the Park Service said...

CAMDEN, N.J. -- It doesn't take much time in this city to have doubts about a line its most famous resident, 19th century poet Walt Whitman, wrote about it: "I dream'd in a dream I saw a city invincible." In the decades after Whitman died here in 1892, the city just east of Philadelphia became a center of industry, home to RCA and Campbell Soup. But then Camden declined into one of the poorest cities in the country, a place best-known for government corruption and crime...

WASHINGTON -- Buoyed by the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, U.S. government officials hope the exposure of his radical network through hundreds of raids across Iraq will help them eliminate key tentacles of the amorphous al-Qaida organization. These officials say the raids have led to solid insights into al-Qaida in Iraq and provided new clues about how the group trades information with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida central...

Teaching program hot with college grads; 5 teens killed in shooting on New Orleans street; Ranchers use ladders to protect border fences; Western symbol to grace first U.S. pure gold coin

Witnesses say Sri Lankan troops fired on civilians; Islamic leader: Ethiopian troops entered Somalia; Nigerian president says two terms enough

About 400 people are expected to attend a Southeast Missouri Democratic rally on Saturday at Dexter, Mo. The event will be held starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Dexter Elks Lodge, 325 N. Two Mile Road. Attorney General Jay Nixon, state auditor and U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, treasurer candidate Mark Powell, 8th Congressional District candidate Veronica Hambacker and several Southeast Missouri state representative candidates are scheduled to attend, organizers said...

To the editor: Gov. Matt Blunt has signed the voter ID law, which makes it necessary for voters to show their driver's license before voting in any election. As a sophomore in college I am part of a younger generation that feels they rarely influence government policies and actions. I feel that the voter ID law is one step toward making sure my vote indeed does matter and that my opinion is heard...

Cape Girardeau...

ST. LOUIS -- The longer Jeff Suppan labored for his 100th career victory, the bigger the challenge seemed to become. He pushed the milestone into the back of his mind before his fifth try and finally got it. Suppan pitched into the eighth inning and Juan Encarnacion homered twice in the St. Louis Cardinals' 6-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night...

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Edmonton's new playoff stars refuse to let go of this magical postseason run. Hometown boy Fernando Pisani scored another goal and tough guy Raffi Torres deflected in one of his own, sparking the Oilers to the brink of a historic comeback in the Stanley Cup finals Saturday night...

FIRST ROUND (x-advanced to second round) GROUP A Friday, June 9 Germany 4, Costa Rica 2 Ecuador 2, Poland 0 Wednesday, June 14 Germany 1, Poland 0 Thursday, June 15 Ecuador 3, Costa Rica 0 Tuesday, June 20 Ecuador at Germany, 9 a.m. Costa Rica vs. Poland, 9 a.m...

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- More than halfway to the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, any NASCAR driver close to elimination from playoff contention can look to Matt Kenseth for inspiration. A year ago, Kenseth arrived at Michigan International Speedway 24th in the standings after the first 14 races, 700 points behind series leader Jimmie Johnson and 320 points from 10th-place Tony Stewart...

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- They lumbered from end to end, desperate to stop the blue surge of Italian players and salvage their World Cup. Two American players had been ejected. What could have been the winning goal was disallowed. And in the end, with players dropping to field in exhaustion, the United States managed a wild 1-1 tie Saturday that gave the Americans their first World Cup point in Europe and a chance to advance to the tournament's second round...

MIAMI -- Avery Johnson's high-pitched drawl had a little more whine to it than usual, and it rose along with his anger. Dallas' coach rolled his eyes and expressed frustration the only way he could. One day after calling Jerry Stackhouse's suspension for Game 5 of the NBA finals for a hard foul against Miami center Shaquille O'Neal "a bunch of baloney," Johnson vented during a fiery interview session Saturday...

ASHLAND, Mo. -- One teenager was killed and another was critically injured after the all-terrain vehicle on which they were riding crashed into a tree in rural Boone County, authorities said. The wreck occurred between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Friday when the ATV veered off a gravel road southwest of Ashland...

ST. LOUIS -- A Wentzville woman accused of pummeling a St. Louis-area dog breeder over the head with a dead Chihuahua has been charged with two misdemeanors, but apparently has gotten the money back that she paid for the puppy. Lisa Lynn Hopfer, 33, was charged with trespassing and third-degree assault for the incident, which occurred June 7 after the dog she had purchased from Linda Hulsey, 33, of St. Peters, died...

BOYE, Mexico -- Clementina Arellano grew up with her six brothers in a shack in this dusty Mexican hamlet. Now 42, she's raising her sons in a spacious, 10-room mansion with Roman-style pillars at the doorway and a garden full of flowers and singing birds...

The 600 block of Broadview Street at Maria Louise Ln. will be closed beginning Monday. The street will be closed to traffic from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily through Thursday. Traffic will be detoured onto Optimist Drive to Spartech Drive and back to Broadview Street during this time...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan and coalition troops killed about 45 insurgents in attacks on Taliban camps in southern Afghanistan as U.S.-led forces pressed on with their largest offensive since 2001, military officials said Saturday. A total of about 85 suspected militants have been killed in the past week as some 10,000 U.S.-led troops spread out over four southern provinces in the campaign dubbed Operation Mountain Thrust aimed at quelling a Taliban resurgence...

Rice's Eddie Degerman lost his no-hit bid -- and his lead -- in the seventh inning Saturday, before the second-seeded Owls came back to beat Georgia 6-4 in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. After the Owls' 2-0 lead became a 4-2 deficit, they rallied with four runs in the bottom of the seventh to win for the 38th time in 41 games. Joe Savery, who went 3-for-3, put the Owls in front again with a two-run single...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's foreign minister said Saturday the government likely would suggest amendments to a Western package of incentives meant to persuade the Islamic republic to give up its uranium enrichment program. Manouchehr Mottaki would not give any timing for Iran's response. The Tehran regime previously has said some parts of the package were acceptable while others needed to be changed, and the central issue of uranium enrichment needed clarification...

This year's Chautauqua week won't be the first time Cape Girardeau has seen the event. In the Chautauqua's heyday from the late 19th century to the early 1930s the city played host to a yearly Chautauqua festival. At that time Chautauqua was different than it is now, said Dr. Frank Nickell, director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University...

Relatives of the man who built Academic Hall gathered in Cape Girardeau for a two-day reunion and to take a tour of the building. More than 50 descendants of Edward Franz Herman Regenhardt came from all over the country, some to learn the history for the first time. Two living grandsons, William Regenhardt and wife Linda of Mount Vernon, Ill., and Joe Regenhardt and wife Mary Alice of Cape Girardeau, attended the reunion...

MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- After two heartbreaking U.S. Opens in New York, Phil Mickelson might finally give his faithful something to really cheer. On a torturous day that stirred memories of the infamous "Massacre at Winged Foot" in 1974, Mickelson was flawless on the back nine and surged into a share of the lead Saturday at the U.S. Open with a 1-under 69...

Wally Jones of Scott City and Ava Odum of Creal Springs, Ill., announce the engagement of their daughter, Dana M. Jones, to John D. Koepp, both of Benton, Mo. He is the son of Susan Koepp of Sarasota, Fla., and the late Keith Koepp. Jones is a hairstylist at Style Studio in Scott City...

Robert and Mary Rau of Lake Isabella, Mich., and Jeanette Rau of Mount Pleasant, Mich., announce the engagement of their daughter, Elizabeth "Kibby" Rau, to Nathan A. Kennon, both of Mooresville, N.C. He is the son of Gary Kennon of Perryville, Mo., and Patricia Maevers of Jackson...

Phyllis and Earl Rhodes and Michael Sprenger, all of Cape Girardeau, announce the engagement of their daughter, Jessica Lynn Sprenger, to Billy Kevin Lema, both of Patton, Mo. He is the son of Anna Strong of Scopus, Mo., and Patrick Lema of Jackson...

Steve and Jana Story of Wickliffe, Ky., announce the engagement of their daughter, Heather Jo-Ann Story, to Kelly David Illers. He is the son of David and Gloria Illers of Cape Girardeau. Story is also the daughter of the late Dorothy Mitchell-Berbling of Scott City...

Marilyn Schwab of Cape Girardeau announces the engagement of her daughter, Ginger Schwab of Sanford, Fla., to Jacob Haskell Huffman IX. He is the son of Kelye Reese of Pell City, Ala., and the late Jacob Huffman VIII. Schwab is also the daughter of the late John A. Schwab...

Brad and Martha Golden of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Carrie Ann Golden, to Justin Andrew Cain. He is the son of Kevin and Amy Cain of Cape Girardeau. Golden is a 2003 graduate of Jackson High School. She is majoring in music education at Southeast Missouri State University. She is employed at Dexter Bar-B-Que Inc....

Tony and Carol Glueck of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Jennifer Glueck, to Christopher Hart. He is the son of Roger and Terry Carriker of Troy, Mo., and the late Greg Hart. Glueck is a 1998 graduate of Notre Dame Regional High School. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Quincy University, and a master's degree in gerontology from the University of Missouri-St. Louis...

NEW HAMBURG, Mo. -- Amy Elizabeth O'Brien and Travis Andrew Pobst were married Aug. 13, 2005, at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in New Hamburg, Mo. The Revs. Normand Varone and John Harth performed the ceremony. Eucharistic ministers were Jill Pinkston and Dorothy Deason. Reader was Danny Hahn. Mass servers were Kayla Essner and Trenton St. Cin, cousin of the groom. Petitions were offered by Betty Essner...

Lillian Marie Dean and Stephen Louis Hoell exchanged vows May 20, 2006, at First Presbyterian Church in Fulton, Mo. Dr. John Barden performed the ceremony. Organist was Julia Matthews of Fulton, flutist was Laura Lusk of Cape Girardeau, soloist was Ashley Driggers of Liberty, Mo., and vocalists were Jessica Howe of Little Rock, Ark., and Rob Hoell of Fulton...

Queen of All Saints Catholic Church in St. Louis was the setting Sept. 17, 2005, for the wedding of Renae Michelle Holzem and Bradley Aaron Halter. Monsignor Robert P. Jovanovic performed the ceremony. Organist was Carol Brown and soloist was Donna VanDillen, both of St. Louis...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Ellie Dennis of Mounds announces the engagement of her daughter, Jennifer L. Nixon, to Jeffrey R. Korte. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Korte of Metropolis, Ill. Nixon is also the daughter of the late Thomas Nixon. Nixon is a 1999 graduate of Meridian High School. She is employed at Dippin' Dots in Paducah, Ky...

Jack and Bobbi Howard of Scott City and Lenard and Connie Albrecht of Heber Springs, Ark., announce the engagement of their daughter, Summer Nicole Albrecht, to Andrew Paul Montgomery, both of Chaffee, Mo. He is the son of Steve and Anita Montgomery of Chaffee...

Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Fritzler of Cape Girardeau were honored with a dinner party June 9, 2006, in celebration of their 60th wedding anniversary. Hosts were their sons and daughter-in-law, Steven and Marilyn Fritzler of Cape Girardeau, and Gary Fritzler of Cordova, Tenn...

"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." -- Mark Twain. SHE SAID: I asked Bob to write this week's column about being a divorced dad in honor of Father's Day...

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Hanselmann of Jackson observed their 40th wedding anniversary April 30, 2006. The celebration was held at St. John's United Church of Christ Fellowship Hall. Hosts were their children and spouses, Teresa and Randy Lichtenegger, Pattie and Tony Yount, and Mark Hanselmann...

A white van emblazoned with the city of Cape Girardeau logo may have been driving in circles Saturday but it was not lost. The winding, curling, often bumpy two-hour trip around town had its purpose. That purpose was the first ever litter index survey conducted by representatives of Keep Southeast Missouri Beautiful, a local organization soon to be affiliated with the national organization Keep America Beautiful. ...